COMMUNITY PROJECTS
FAFA supports ethical fashion in line with fair trade principles.
Giveaways 2008
Bags were crafted in hessian with “peace patches”, to hold sponsor giveaways. They were made by Seed of Hope centres, which train destitute teenage girls in tailoring, arts and crafts and basic business skills. The girls go on to graduate and are assisted to start their own businesses. Johari is the brand name of the clothes made by Seed of Hope. The bags were labeled by the Kawangware group of former street kids.
Peace Trees and Symbols
When Maasai women are tired of their men fighting, they put a branch of an oseki tree (cordia ovalis) between the 2 warring factions. Inspired by this John Kaveke decided to get “peace trees” made from recycled metal, to decorate the gala dinner tables. These are being made by KWOCH, a group in Kisumu, which works with recycled materials, water hyacinth and paper beads. Big trees were made to be placed in displaced camps, Kibera, Mathare and the Designers Exhibition, to encourage the various communities to write peace messages and attach them on the ‘trees’.
Design students are currently researching on unique peace symbols from different communities that will feature in this year’s gala show.
Peace Patches
KikoRomeo is incorporating these in its collection, as a means of stimulating creativity and creating employment. Scrap fabric is given to women, who have been affected by the violence, to make patches, which are sold back to be sewn on garments. Each woman does her own design, using different fabrics, beads, stitching, embroidery and so on.
Alternatives to Violence Project
Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards AVP Kenya, which runs non violence training on conflict prevention and reconciliation in affected areas of the country.
The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is an international training programme which enables people to deal with conflicts in new, creative ways, and without resorting to violence. AVP workshops powerfully build self-esteem, community and trust within diverse groups. The process draws on the shared experience of participants, interactive exercises, games and role-plays to examine the ways in which we respond to situations where injustice, prejudice, frustration and anger can lead to aggressive behaviour and violence.
The programme has been active within the Great Lakes region since the 1990’s, supporting programs in trauma healing and reconciliation in Burundi, Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Over 1000 Rwandan local court judges were trained in AVP, as part of a traditional truth, reconcilitation and restorative justice process known as ‘Gacaca’, providing hearings for alleged perpetrators of the genocide.